title: Anesthesia management in a patient with an abdominal aortic aneurysm undergoing liver transplantation: a case report.
abstract: We describe the anesthetic management in a 56-year old man with hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis who underwent liver transplantation (LT). Pretransplantation workup showed a 3-cm wide by 10-cm long infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) with chronic dissection. He subsequently underwent living donor LT. The total operative time was 12 hours. The systolic blood pressure was maintained at normal levels. Severe hypertension was not noted. Hypotension noted during the anhepatic phase was managed with increased volume infusion and small doses (0.1 mg) of intravenous phenylephrine. Metabolic acidosis and ionized hypocalcemia were corrected accordingly. Total blood loss was 460 mL. Blood or blood products were not given. The intravascular volume was replaced with 1400 mL of 5% albumin and 10,610 mL of crystalloid. Extubation was performed in the intensive care unit at 12 hours after the operation. The postoperative course was unremarkable. The patient is alive at 3 years after LT. Patients with AAA undergoing LT present a challenge to the anesthesiologist because among the risk factors for rupture, blood pressure is the only factor under his or her control during the operation. If blood loss can be kept to a minimum and hemodynamic stability achieved, a chronically small dissected AAA may not be a contraindication to LT.
authors.affiliation: Liver Transplant Program, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Taiwan.
authors.forename: K-W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: C-L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: C-S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C-J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: K-H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: C-C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Concejero
authors.forename: Y-F
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: T-L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: K-W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: S-H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C-C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Y-W
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jawan
mesh_terms: D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000379:methods*; D000784:Aortic Dissection / Q000150:complications; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000150:complications*; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative; D016896:Treatment Outcome